GROUNDED
by Snowingroses
Summary: Grounded and banned from any techy gadgets. Keyop is left to his on devices of imagination. Armed only with time and an old box of books that belonged to Marks father, what trouble could, he possibly get into. Wanta find out? R&R are always welcome.
1. Chapter 1

Keyop has found himself grounded! So what has Keyop done to be grounded? And how is he handling it?

_Glimpse into fic:_  
In the BotP verse Keyop has managed to yet again get under Princess skin and this time she has ground him. Having been banned from having any access to any sort of technology, he is left to his on devices of imagination. Armed only with time and an old box of books that belonged to Marks father, what trouble could, he possibly get into. 

_Author Notes: _Most pages will open with a quote or other scifi tidbit. In someway or the other it should relate to the story. Wanta know more, well you'll have to ask. I don't bite.

Feedbacks / comments are welcome Just drop me a line.

Schematics as I get them worked up will become available for viewing. If interested the direction can be shared.

And now on to the adventure….


	2. GROUNDED pt1

_Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.__  
__Until it found mortality, it died in line at the DMV..._

_The earliest printed reference to the origin of this proverb is attributed to Ben Jonson in his 1598 play. Though it was worded somewhat differently, and that is without he DMV comment. Through out history it has cropped up countless times including Tow Sawyer, a horoscope for Leo in 1966 and well even Stephen King's work. _

"KEYYYOP." Princess yelped as she leapt into a chair. "Get it!"

Jason slumped down in booth, unable to stand from laughing so hard. "Jaaason, do something. Get that." She had stopped screeching names out, but she was now wildly pointing at something peeking out from under the table, to which her chair belonged to the set.

"Princess." Jason looked up at her. He snickered but tried hard to stifle the laugh that was threatening to bust out.

Jason pulled his hand down his mouth. Composure he reminded himself. He had to maintain composure, or in the end Princess was sure to beat the hell out of him, kick Keyop right square in the pants. To which he had to admit, he deserved. And well that poor critter Keyop had dragged into the J would surely be broom beaten out onto the street.

Thankfully there were only two pardons in the snack J besides Jason, Princess and Keyop. They apparently weren't bothered by the proceedings.

"Know if I were betting I would put my money on the critter." The first young man commented.

The other man no doubt a mirror twin cracked a smile that reflected the one who had just spoken. "Yes, well just remember to tip the kid really well for the dinner and show."

"Assuming we get dinner?" Inquired the other.

"Awww, get away. You little beast." Princess squealed as she danced dangerously around the small square of the chair bottom, with a plate of sandwiches still resting precariously in the palm of her hand.

"Know I bet he gets grounded." The first man replied with a wicked flash of blue eyes.

The other twin nodded agreement. "So, that means he won't be spending that tip anyway soon?"

"If he doesn't end up in boot camp over this it will be a miracle."

They chuckled.

Keyop bounced from one foot to the other. What was he going to do? Princess was going to kill him, dead as a doornail. No she was going to kill that poor little creature dead as a doornail and then….

He paused trying to get a grip on his racing mind.

He stopped looking at the cage he had hid under the cabinet that sat next to stove. It was a hamster cage with bars incredibly closely knitted together. Surely it hadn't crawled through, had it? The water dish sat undisturbed, the food was still snuggled in the same corner.

Then it hit him. The temperature, it had changed in fact it had probably gotten quite warm next to the stove. His eyes grew wide with worry. He had used the stove to make the grilled cheese with bacon sandwiches and the side order of fries for the two customers. Oh boy, he might be in trouble. No scratch that he was in trouble.

From out front Keyop heard Jason's voice. "Now Princess you've got to stand still or."

Keyop cringed when he heard the or Jason was just talking about. It came in an unsympathetic squeal followed by the sounds of a plate clattering to the ground. He heard several masculine groans of oooh and then Princess was screaming. "Get it! Kill it!"

He made a mad dash out of the kitchen under the bar and into the dining area, where Princess was practically climbing Jason all the while beating him with a clinched fist.

Keyop flashed Princess a cheesy grin. "Broop Breep. Say hello to my little friend."

Snickers rumbled from the corner of the diner where customers appeared to be flocking into to watch the show.

"Little friend?" She bellowed letting go of Jason and grabbing a nearby broom. "I'll make you think little friend."


	3. GROUNDED pt2

_The Best gift a father can give to his son is the gift of himself - his time. For material things mean little, if there is not someone to share them with. - unknown _

Keyop was still dumbfounded. Princess had rounded on him with a broom. But he supposed the knock off movie line wasn't as funny to Princess as it had been to him and the other people in the shake J. 

He reflected now on everyone else's reaction. Jason had well; he had fallen back into the booth, practically rolling. He was laughing so hard. The others that had flocked in had been just the band that Princess jammed with. And well there were the two paying customers. They would have been paying customers, if they had gotten their sandwiches.

As Keyop sat grounded in his room mentally he went back over the situation as it unfolded. He had found the poor half dead… Ok so it wasn't half dead, but it sure sounded plausible. At least to him, Princess on the other hand didn't buy that excuse nor did she accept Jason's idea of its captivity as future science project. What was it again? _Caring for all the worlds aged Amphibians_. Needless to say Princess didn't find that funny either. That is probably when she clobbered Jason the first time with the broom. 

Princess swept up the last pieces of the shattered plate. She was still seething. "How dare him bring that..- Creature into the Snack J. What was it Jason, you called the bugged eyed little creature, a _hellbender_? Oh there will definitely be some hell bending and it certainly will not pertain to that scale less creature." 

Mark just nodded and tried hard to smile politely without busting out into fits of laughter. Jason was smart and hung back further out of her reach than normal. 

"And Keyop called it a mudpuppy.. No he said it was almost like a mudpuppy. Now you tell me just _exactly how _it can almost be a mudpuppy? It either is or it isn't. That is like saying almost pregnant."

Mark choked. Princess arched a brow the glower on her face indicated he'd better not touch that one.

"In my defense." Jason began. "I never actually referred to it as a_ Hellbender_." He wiggled his fingers to indicate the air quote marks that should be around the hellbender name.

"That come from the twin antagonists or the group you jam with that call themselves '_The band_.'" 

There he went again with the invisible finger pointing. Mark thought. 

A towel flew past his head. Jason grew silent. The swats of the broom still a little too fresh in his memory. Let it be said the woman was deadliest assassin in the world with or without the yo-yo.

"So?" Mark began as he deliberately got up and moved back away from Princess who was still welding at least one weapon. "How will you punish Keyop for this little incident?"

Incident was the best word choice for this situation had come up countless times before. Including but not limited to a Ty-Beanie baby and well the discovery of floam. But then someone else had claim that little victory, hadn't they. Another more vivid incident had been the beetle Keyop had taken in. That had almost cost him, his life.

She stopped propping with the broom. "I ground him. He has been ban from having access to the internet, television, any form of gaming." Tiny groaned. He had come in with Mark and had caught the wind down of the excitement. Princess kept going, she didn't seem to notice the large pilots protest. "No iPod, no cell phone, and above all nothing else that requires batteries."

Jason leaned his back heavily against the chair he was sitting in. "Why, don't you just lock him in a dark damp cell. And only give him moldy bread and stagnant water." He shrugged. "Once a week."

"He is my brother, he lives with me… Would you like for him to move in with you? You can be responsible for him, if you like." Princess had practically crawled on to the table Jason sat at.

Jason rather thought she was really pissed this time so he decided to surrender. And the fact he really didn't want share his very meek living quarters with Keyop and the other half the damn forest he would somehow inadvertently manage to drag up. 

"Okay, Princess I was only kidding. Just don't you think? Just maybe." Her ice cold glare shut him up. 

"Hmm." Mark cleared his throat. "Well seeing he is grounded." Princess glared daggers at him. "I was just going to ask would you object if I went ahead and left that old box of books with him."

She crossed her arms over her chest. He knew the look well. "No Princess it does not contain any smuggled games, iPod and or other wise internet accessible items in it. Would you like to go through it? It's just some old books that belonged to my father, from his military days." He inquired as Tiny heaved a plain dirty brown pasteboard box up from the floor.

"Ahm, and why exactly would Keyop want your fathers old junk books?" Jason ask as a mischief smirk washed over his face.

Mark rolled his eyes and flipped the lid off revealing nothing that would interest Jason or much less anyone else, unless were still under the illusions of youth.

"Spy novels? You have got to be kidding.."

"They were popular in the beginning of war time." Mark comeback 

"Military issued?" Tiny noted as he thumbed through a few.

"Everyone must have had copies of those damn things." Jason grunted

Keyop sat crossed legged in the middle of his room staring at the filthy moldy brown box. Mark had to be kidding, he thought. There couldn't possibly be anything in there of interest to him, unless..

The paper was filthy, dog eared, torn and all around scribbled on. But it was interesting. It was notes. Someone went to great lengths to document this.

"Schematic." He smirked as he lay out across the floor in a better position to pour over the plans.


	4. GROUNDED pt3

The colonel sat only half listening to the recounting the situation and its unfolding. Mentally he thought to himself if ever he got bored with the comic relief he had here. He could always watch his son's team fall into shambles over a tiny lizard. 

Col. Cronus swung his feet off the edge of the desk, from where he had been propped up and reading someone's report.

"Mudpuppy, Hellbender?" Ok so now they had definitely sparked his interest. The twins shrugged and glanced at each other. 

"Hellbender?" He inquired again as he rubbed at his chin. 

"Considered a mythical creature, they are also known as devil dogs and snot otters." Major Maelstrom said as he slowly closed the thread bare tome he had been flipping through.

"So what did she do to him this time? And please don't tell me she is begging Anderson to send him through boot camp."

"Sir she was wielding a broom."

The colonel thought a moment of a visual image of a very pissed off Swan wielding anything and decided that was enough said. "Never mind, I am sure we will find out soon enough." 

"So what was it?"

"What was what sir?"

"The lizard, was it a salamander, mudpuppy, or a Hellbender?"

There were two different answers at the same time. "Mudpuppy / spotted salamander. Sir."


	5. GROUNDED pt4

**A Phone Call**

_nose cola alert_

Anderson slipped the glasses off and rubbed the bridge of his nose out of sheer habit. Apparently Keyop had really done it this time. No he knew Keyop had really done it this time. Why else would he have just spent the last two and a half hours with a cell phone blooming out of his ear? If that wasn't give away enough, it had to be the stifled snickers from Jason as he chauffeured him around throughout town. Jason only seemed to snicker when Princess voice pitched, so yeah he knew something.

Whoever said all they ever needed was simply text on their cell phone must have never met the Swan. He hadn't been able to keep up with her text. As a matter of fact he hadn't even been able to reply to her text messages. That's why they were now on the phone talking, well that was why she was on the phone talking. He was simply listening and nodding occasionally.

"Do you believe the Health Inspector was there? He was right there when.. When Keyop's little friend came out. I can't believe he called it his little friend."

Now it was Anderson who was trying hard to stifle laughter and snickering. Jason was grinning like a Chester Cat, again and roaring like a lion with laughter.

"I understand that Princess." He coughed in attempt to keep from laughing.

"It's not funny and you can just tell Jason that too." She snapped.

They were stopped a red light, Jason was looking back over the seat at Chief Anderson.  
He knew Princess was talking about him.

"Well." He paused not sure if he wanted to go on and ask how the health inspection had gone.

He cleared his throat. "Well so how did the inspection go?"

She didn't let him down, as he pulled the phone away from his ear.

She was still getting wound up when Anderson glanced up to see Jason's expression in the rear view mirror. He was now grinning like a hungry 'possum in a full hen house.

"He offered her twenty dollars if she would do that little dance in the chair again while he video taped it." Jason said as he made another turn and pulled up to the steps of Andersons stop.

"What happened?" Anderson mouthed as he slid out of the back seat, phone still firmly sprouting out his right ear. He was hoping there wasn't going to be a pending lawsuit for out come.


End file.
